A compelling motion picture about real life events that almost got overshadowed by the behind the scenes drama surrounding the film.

J. Paul Getty had a fortune. Everyone else paid the price.

When a teenage boy is kidnapped and held for ransom, it is up to his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather to pay it. When the billionaire refuses to pay, the mother must team with he adviser in a race against time to get her son from his captors who are becoming increasingly brutal in their demands for the money.

Abigail Harris is the mother of a kidnapped son who must find a way to pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers by going to her son’s grandfather for the money. John Paul Getty III is the kidnapped teenager who must keep his hopes up as he is used as a pawn by Italian mobsters to get millions of dollars from his billionaire grandfather. Fletcher Chase is a former C.I.A. operative who works for John Paul Getty as an adviser and after giving him faulty information about the kidnapping, allies himself with Abigail to get her son back. John Paul Getty is the richest man in the world who must weigh the pressure of maintaining his vast fortune with his familial obligations during a trying time without appearing weak.

All The Money In The World is a gripping crime thriller that is all the more fascinating due to the fact that it is based on true events. Any Bahamian will notice the date of July 10th, 1973 when J. Paul Getty was alerted to his grandson’s kidnapping as the date of the country's independence and when I noticed that fact it made me pay more attention to the film. Michelle Williams gives an award worthy performance as she truly becomes someone else in a way she has never done before which is a testament to how far she has come since Dawson’s Creek (btw Jen should have died of a.i.d.s. and not the heart condition she did die of.) Ridley Scott reminds us at 80 that he is still at the top of his game as he crafts a tight historical drama with thrilling elements that keep you at the edge of your seat from moment to moment even if you know how the story ends. It is sad that controversy behind the scenes had been a part of this film since the decision was made to reshoot the scenes that could reshot with Christopher Plummer as a way of removing Kevin Spacey from the film after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced. Then was the leaked information that for the reshoots Mark Wahlberg was paid $1,500,000 while everyone else who came back was paid considerably less and the director thought every who returned was being paid scale. It taints the way the movie is received by the general public as the flaws in the film seemed to be magnified and certain performances scrutinized in a manner that negatively impacts its critical treatment. This is a bio pic that became a different beast entirely for better and for worse, but it is still some skillful film-making and compelling acting that takes you to that time and place. I rate this movie a rating of 3 &1/2 out of 5.

Rouén
Robinson has been an
avid moviegoer since childhood and has been critiquing motion pictures
for almost a decade. He has been a film critic for
The Cinemas on Tempo and was a judge for
FLIFF On Location: Grand Bahama Island, an off
shoot of the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF). Rouén
lives in Grand Bahama and can be reached at redr1976@icloud.com and
on Twitter
@thereelrouen